2 Esdras

4Ezra.1

[1] The second book of the prophet Ezra the son of Seraiah, son
of Azariah, son of Hilkiah, son of Shallum, son of Zadok, son of Ahitub,
[2] son of Ahijah, son of Phinehas, son of Eli, son of Amariah,
son of Azariah, son of Meraioth, son of Arna, son of Uzzi, son of Borith,
son of Abishua, son of Phinehas, son of Eleazar,
[3] son of Aaron, of the tribe of Levi, who was a captive in
the country of the Medes in the reign of Artaxerxes, king of the Persians.
[4] The word of the Lord came to me, saying,

[5] "Go and declare to my people their evil deeds, and to their
children the iniquities which they have committed against me, so that they
may tell their children's children
[6] that the sins of their parents have increased in them, for
they have forgotten me and have offered sacrifices to strange gods.
[7] Was it not I who brought them out of the land of Egypt,
out of the house of bondage? But they have angered me and despised my counsels.
[8] Pull out the hair of your head and hurl all evils upon them,
for they have not obeyed my law -- they are a rebellious people.
[9] How long shall I endure them, on whom I have bestowed such
great benefits?
[10] For their sake I have overthrown many kings: I struck down
Pharaoh with his servants, and all his army.
[11] I have destroyed all nations before them, and scattered
in the east the people of two provinces, Tyre and Sidon; I have slain all
their enemies.
[12] "But speak to them and say, Thus says the Lord:

[13] Surely it was I who brought you through the sea, and made
safe highways for you where there was no road; I gave you Moses as leader
and Aaron as priest;
[14] I provided light for you from a pillar of fire, and did
great wonders among you. Yet you have forgotten me, says the Lord.
[15] "Thus says the Lord Almighty: The quails were a sign to
you; I gave you camps for your protection, and in them you complained.

[16] You have not exulted in my name at the destruction of your
enemies, but to this day you still complain.
[17] Where are the benefits which I bestowed on you? When you
were hungry and thirsty in the wilderness, did you not cry out to me,
[18] saying, `Why hast thou led us into this wilderness to kill
us? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die
in this wilderness.'
[19] I pitied your groanings and gave you manna for food; you
ate the bread of angels.
[20] When you were thirsty, did I not cleave the rock so that
waters flowed in abundance? Because of the heat I covered you with the
leaves of trees.
[21] I divided fertile lands among you; I drove out the Canaanites,
the Perizzites, and the Philistines before you. What more can I do for
you? says the Lord.
[22] Thus says the Lord Almighty: When you were in the wilderness,
at the bitter stream, thirsty and blaspheming my name,
[23] I did not send fire upon you for your blasphemies, but
threw a tree into the water and made the stream sweet.
[24] "What shall I do to you, O Jacob? You would not obey me,
O Judah. I will turn to other nations and will give them my name, that
they may keep my statutes.

[25] Because you have forsaken me, I also will forsake you. When
you beg mercy of me, I will show you no mercy.
[26] When you call upon me, I will not listen to you; for you
have defiled your hands with blood, and your feet are swift to commit murder.
[27] It is not as though you had forsaken me; you have forsaken
yourselves, says the Lord.
[28] "Thus says the Lord Almighty: Have I not entreated you
as a father entreats his sons or a mother her daughters or a nurse her
children,

[29] that you should be my people and I should be your God, and
that you should be my sons and I should be your father?
[30] I gathered you as a hen gathers her brood under her wings.
But now, what shall I do to you? I will cast you out from my presence.
[31] When you offer oblations to me, I will turn my face from
you; for I have rejected your feast days, and new moons, and circumcisions
of the flesh.
[32] I sent to you my servants the prophets, but you have taken
and slain them and torn their bodies in pieces; their blood I will require
of you, says the Lord.
[33] "Thus says the Lord Almighty: Your house is desolate; I
will drive you out as the wind drives straw;

[34] and your sons will have no children, because with you they
have neglected my commandment and have done what is evil in my sight.
[35] I will give your houses to a people that will come, who
without having heard me will believe. Those to whom I have shown no signs
will do what I have commanded.
[36] They have seen no prophets, yet will recall their former
state.
[37] I call to witness the gratitude of the people that is to
come, whose children rejoice with gladness; though they do not see me with
bodily eyes, yet with the spirit they will believe the things I have said.
[38] "And now, father, look with pride and see the people coming
from the east;

[39] to them I will give as leaders Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
and Hosea and Amos and Micah and Joel and Obadiah and Jonah
[40] and Nahum and Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah and
Malachi, who is also called the messenger of the Lord.

2

[1] "Thus says the Lord: I brought this people out of bondage, and
I gave them commandments through my servants the prophets; but they would
not listen to them, and made my counsels void.

[2] The mother who bore them says to them, `Go, my children,
because I am a widow and forsaken.
[3] I brought you up with gladness; but with mourning and sorrow
I have lost you, because you have sinned before the Lord God and have done
what is evil in my sight.
[4] But now what can I do for you? For I am a widow and forsaken.
Go, my children, and ask for mercy from the Lord.'
[5] I call upon you, father, as a witness in addition to the
mother of the children, because they would not keep my covenant,
[6] that you may bring confusion upon them and bring their mother
to ruin, so that they may have no offspring.
[7] Let them be scattered among the nations, let their names
be blotted out from the earth, because they have despised my covenant.
[8] "Woe to you, Assyria, who conceal the unrighteous in your
midst! O wicked nation, remember what I did to Sodom and Gomorrah,

[9] whose land lies in lumps of pitch and heaps of ashes. So
will I do to those who have not listened to me, says the Lord Almighty."
[10] Thus says the Lord to Ezra: "Tell my people that I will
give them the kingdom of Jerusalem, which I was going to give to Israel.

[11] Moreover, I will take back to myself their glory, and will
give to these others the everlasting habitations, which I had prepared
for Israel.
[12] The tree of life shall give them fragrant perfume, and
they shall neither toil nor become weary.
[13] Ask and you will receive; pray that your days may be few,
that they may be shortened. The kingdom is already prepared for you; watch!
[14] Call, O call heaven and earth to witness, for I left out
evil and created good, because I live, says the Lord.
[15] "Mother, embrace your sons; bring them up with gladness,
as does the dove; establish their feet, because I have chosen you, says
the Lord.

[16] And I will raise up the dead from their places, and will
bring them out from their tombs, because I recognize my name in them.
[17] Do not fear, mother of sons, for I have chosen you, says
the Lord.
[18] I will send you help, my servants Isaiah and Jeremiah.
According to their counsel I have consecrated and prepared for you twelve
trees loaded with various fruits,
[19] and the same number of springs flowing with milk and honey,
and seven mighty mountains on which roses and lilies grow; by these I will
fill your children with joy.
[20] Guard the rights of the widow, secure justice for the fatherless,
give to the needy, defend the orphan, clothe the naked,
[21] care for the injured and the weak, do not ridicule a lame
man, protect the maimed, and let the blind man have a vision of my splendor.
[22] Protect the old and the young within your walls;
[23] When you find any who are dead, commit them to the grave
and mark it, and I will give you the first place in my resurrection.
[24] Pause and be quiet, my people, because your rest will come.
[25] Good nurse, nourish your sons, and strengthen their feet.
[26] Not one of the servants whom I have given you will perish,
for I will require them from among your number.
[27] Do not be anxious, for when the day of tribulation and
anguish comes, others shall weep and be sorrowful, but you shall rejoice
and have abundance.
[28] The nations shall envy you but they shall not be able to
do anything against you, says the Lord.
[29] My hands will cover you, that your sons may not see Gehenna.
[30] Rejoice, O mother, with your sons, because I will deliver
you, says the Lord.
[31] Remember your sons that sleep, because I will bring them
out of the hiding places of the earth, and will show mercy to them; for
I am merciful, says the Lord Almighty.
[32] Embrace your children until I come, and proclaim mercy
to them; because my springs run over, and my grace will not fail."
[33] I, Ezra, received a command from the Lord on Mount Horeb
to go to Israel. When I came to them they rejected me and refused the Lord's
commandment.

[34] Therefore I say to you, O nations that hear and understand,
"Await your shepherd; he will give you everlasting rest, because he who
will come at the end of the age is close at hand.
[35] Be ready for the rewards of the kingdom, because the eternal
light will shine upon you for evermore.
[36] Flee from the shadow of this age, receive the joy of your
glory; I publicly call on my Savior to witness.
[37] Receive what the Lord has entrusted to you and be joyful,
giving thanks to him who has called you to heavenly kingdoms.
[38] Rise and stand, and see at the feast of the Lord the number
of those who have been sealed.
[39] Those who have departed from the shadow of this age have
received glorious garments from the Lord.
[40] Take again your full number, O Zion, and conclude the list
of your people who are clothed in white, who have fulfilled the law of
the Lord.
[41] The number of your children, whom you desired, is full;
beseech the Lord's power that your people, who have been called from the
beginning, may be made holy."
[42] I, Ezra, saw on Mount Zion a great multitude, which I could
not number, and they all were praising the Lord with songs.

[43] In their midst was a young man of great stature, taller
than any of the others, and on the head of each of them he placed a crown,
but he was more exalted than they. And I was held spellbound.
[44] Then I asked an angel, "Who are these, my lord?"
[45] He answered and said to me, "These are they who have put
off mortal clothing and have put on the immortal, and they have confessed
the name of God; now they are being crowned, and receive palms."
[46] Then I said to the angel, "Who is that young man who places
crowns on them and puts palms in their hands?"
[47] He answered and said to me, "He is the Son of God, whom
they confessed in the world." So I began to praise those who had stood
valiantly for the name of the Lord.
[48] Then the angel said to me, "Go, tell my people how great
and many are the wonders of the Lord God which you have seen."

3

[1] In the thirtieth year after the destruction of our city, I Salathiel,
who am also called Ezra, was in Babylon. I was troubled as I lay on my
bed, and my thoughts welled up in my heart,

[2] because I saw the desolation of Zion and the wealth of those
who lived in Babylon.
[3] My spirit was greatly agitated, and I began to speak anxious
words to the Most High, and said,
[4] "O sovereign Lord, didst thou not speak at the beginning
when thou didst form the earth -- and that without help -- and didst command
the dust
[5] and it gave thee Adam, a lifeless body? Yet he was the workmanship
of thy hands, and thou didst breathe into him the breath of life, and he
was made alive in thy presence.
[6] And thou didst lead him into the garden which thy right
hand had planted before the earth appeared.
[7] And thou didst lay upon him one commandment of thine; but
he transgressed it, and immediately thou didst appoint death for him and
for his descendants. From him there sprang nations and tribes, peoples
and clans without number.
[8] And every nation walked after its own will and did ungodly
things before thee and scorned thee, and thou didst not hinder them.
[9] But again, in its time thou didst bring the flood upon the
inhabitants of the world and destroy them.
[10] And the same fate befell them: as death came upon Adam,
so the flood upon them.
[11] But thou didst leave one of them, Noah with his household,
and all the righteous who have descended from him.
[12] "When those who dwelt on earth began to multiply, they
produced children and peoples and many nations, and again they began to
be more ungodly than were their ancestors.

[13] And when they were committing iniquity before thee, thou
didst choose for thyself one of them, whose name was Abraham;
[14] and thou didst love him, and to him only didst thou reveal
the end of the times, secretly by night.
[15] Thou didst make with him an everlasting covenant, and promise
him that thou wouldst never forsake his descendants; and thou gavest to
him Isaac, and to Isaac thou gavest Jacob and Esau.
[16] And thou didst set apart Jacob for thyself, but Esau thou
didst reject; and Jacob became a great multitude.
[17] And when thou didst lead his descendants out of Egypt,
thou didst bring them to Mount Sinai.
[18] Thou didst bend down the heavens and shake the earth, and
move the world, and make the depths to tremble, and trouble the times.
[19] And thy glory passed through the four gates of fire and
earthquake and wind and ice, to give the law to the descendants of Jacob,
and thy commandment to the posterity of Israel.
[20] "Yet thou didst not take away from them their evil heart,
so that thy law might bring forth fruit in them.

[21] For the first Adam, burdened with an evil heart, transgressed
and was overcome, as were also all who were descended from him.
[22] Thus the disease became permanent; the law was in the people's
heart along with the evil root, but what was good departed, and the evil
remained.
[23] So the times passed and the years were completed, and thou
didst raise up for thyself a servant, named David.
[24] And thou didst command him to build a city for thy name,
and in it to offer thee oblations from what is thine.
[25] This was done for many years; but the inhabitants of the
city transgressed,
[26] in everything doing as Adam and all his descendants had
done, for they also had the evil heart.
[27] So thou didst deliver the city into the hands of thy enemies.
[28] "Then I said in my heart, Are the deeds of those who inhabit
Babylon any better? Is that why she has gained dominion over Zion?

[29] For when I came here I saw ungodly deeds without number,
and my soul has seen many sinners during these thirty years. And my heart
failed me,
[30] for I have seen how thou dost endure those who sin, and
hast spared those who act wickedly, and hast destroyed thy people, and
hast preserved thy enemies,
[31] and hast not shown to any one how thy way may be comprehended.
Are the deeds of Babylon better than those of Zion?
[32] Or has another nation known thee besides Israel? Or what
tribes have so believed thy covenants as these tribes of Jacob?
[33] Yet their reward has not appeared and their labor has borne
no fruit. For I have traveled widely among the nations and have seen that
they abound in wealth, though they are unmindful of thy commandments.
[34] Now therefore weigh in a balance our iniquities and those
of the inhabitants of the world; and so it will be found which way the
turn of the scale will incline.
[35] When have the inhabitants of the earth not sinned in thy
sight? Or what nation has kept thy commandments so well?
[36] Thou mayest indeed find individual men who have kept thy
commandments, but nations thou wilt not find."

4

[1] Then the angel that had been sent to me, whose name was Uriel,
answered

[2] and said to me, "Your understanding has utterly failed regarding
this world, and do you think you can comprehend the way of the Most High?"
[3] Then I said, "Yes, my lord." And he replied to me, "I have
been sent to show you three ways, and to put before you three problems.
[4] If you can solve one of them for me, I also will show you
the way you desire to see, and will teach you why the heart is evil."
[5] I said, "Speak on, my lord." And he said to me, "Go, weigh
for me the weight of fire, or measure for me a measure of wind, or call
back for me the day that is past."

[6] I answered and said, "Who of those that have been born can
do this, that you ask me concerning these things?"

[7] And he said to me, "If I had asked you, `How many dwellings
are in the heart of the sea, or how many streams are at the source of the
deep, or how many streams are above the firmament, or which are the exits
of hell, or which are the entrances of paradise?'

[8] Perhaps you would have said to me, `I never went down into
the deep, nor as yet into hell, neither did I ever ascend into heaven.'
[9] But now I have asked you only about fire and wind and the
day, things through which you have passed and without which you cannot
exist, and you have given me no answer about them!"
[10] And he said to me, "You cannot understand the things with
which you have grown up;
[11] how then can your mind comprehend the way of the Most High?
And how can one who is already worn out by the corrupt world understand
incorruption?" When I heard this, I fell on my face
[12] and said to him, "It would be better for us not to be here
than to come here and live in ungodliness, and to suffer and not understand
why."
[13] He answered me and said, "I went into a forest of trees
of the plain, and they made a plan

[14] and said, `Come, let us go and make war against the sea,
that it may recede before us, and that we may make for ourselves more forests.'
[15] And in like manner the waves of the sea also made a plan
and said, `Come, let us go up and subdue the forest of the plain so that
there also we may gain more territory for ourselves.'
[16] But the plan of the forest was in vain, for the fire came
and consumed it;
[17] likewise also the plan of the waves of the sea, for the
sand stood firm and stopped them.
[18] If now you were a judge between them, which would you undertake
to justify, and which to condemn?"
[19] I answered and said, "Each has made a foolish plan, for
the land is assigned to the forest, and to the sea is assigned a place
to carry its waves."

[20] He answered me and said, "You have judged rightly, but why
have you not judged so in your own case?

[21] For as the land is assigned to the forest and the sea to
its waves, so also those who dwell upon earth can understand only what
is on the earth, and he who is above the heavens can understand what is
above the height of the heavens."
[22] Then I answered and said, "I beseech you, my lord, why
have I been endowed with the power of understanding?

[23] For I did not wish to inquire about the ways above, but
about those things which we daily experience: why Israel has been given
over to the Gentiles as a reproach; why the people whom you loved has been
given over to godless tribes, and the law of our fathers has been made
of no effect and the written covenants no longer exist;
[24] and why we pass from the world like locusts, and our life
is like a mist, and we are not worthy to obtain mercy.
[25] But what will he do for his name, by which we are called?
It is about these things that I have asked."
[26] He answered me and said, "If you are alive, you will see,
and if you live long, you will often marvel, because the age is hastening
swiftly to its end.

[27] For it will not be able to bring the things that have been
promised to the righteous in their appointed times, because this age is
full of sadness and infirmities.
[28] For the evil about which you ask me has been sown, but
the harvest of it has not yet come.
[29] If therefore that which has been sown is not reaped, and
if the place where the evil has been sown does not pass away, the field
where the good has been sown will not come.
[30] For a grain of evil seed was sown in Adam's heart from
the beginning, and how much ungodliness it has produced until now, and
will produce until the time of threshing comes!
[31] Consider now for yourself how much fruit of ungodliness
a grain of evil seed has produced.
[32] When heads of grain without number are sown, how great
a threshing floor they will fill!"
[33] Then I answered and said, "How long and when will these
things be? Why are our years few and evil?"

[34] He answered me and said, "You do not hasten faster than
the Most High, for your haste is for yourself, but the Highest hastens
on behalf of many.
[35] Did not the souls of the righteous in their chambers ask
about these matters, saying, `How long are we to remain here? And when
will come the harvest of our reward?
[36] And Jeremiel the archangel answered them and said, `When
the number of those like yourselves is completed; for he has weighed the
age in the balance,
[37] and measured the times by measure, and numbered the times
by number; and he will not move or arouse them until that measure is fulfilled.'"
[38] Then I answered and said, "O sovereign Lord, but all of
us also are full of ungodliness.

[39] And it is perhaps on account of us that the time of threshing
is delayed for the righteous -- on account of the sins of those who dwell
on earth."
[40] He answered me and said, "Go and ask a woman who is with
child if, when her nine months have been completed, her womb can keep the
child within her any longer."

[41] And I said, "No, lord, it cannot."

And he said to me, "In Hades the chambers of the souls are like the
womb.

[42] For just as a woman who is in travail makes haste to escape
the pangs of birth, so also do these places hasten to give back those things
that were committed to them from the beginning.
[43] Then the things that you desire to see will be disclosed
to you."
[44] I answered and said, "If I have found favor in your sight,
and if it is possible, and if I am worthy,

[45] show me this also: whether more time is to come than has
passed, or whether for us the greater part has gone by.
[46] For I know what has gone by, but I do not know what is
to come."
[47] And he said to me, "Stand at my right side, and I will
show you the interpretation of a parable."

[48] So I stood and looked, and behold, a flaming furnace passed
by before me, and when the flame had gone by I looked, and behold, the
smoke remained.

[49] And after this a cloud full of water passed before me and
poured down a heavy and violent rain, and when the rainstorm had passed,
drops remained in the cloud.
[50] And he said to me, "Consider it for yourself; for as the
rain is more than the drops, and the fire is greater than the smoke, so
the quantity that passed was far greater; but drops and smoke remained."

[51] Then I prayed and said, "Do you think that I shall live
until those days? Or who will be alive in those days?"

[52] He answered me and said, "Concerning the signs about which
you ask me, I can tell you in part; but I was not sent to tell you concerning
your life, for I do not know.

5

[1] "Now concerning the signs: behold, the days are coming when
those who dwell on earth shall be seized with great terror, and the way
of truth shall be hidden, and the land shall be barren of faith.

[2] And unrighteousness shall be increased beyond what you yourself
see, and beyond what you heard of formerly.
[3] And the land which you now see ruling shall be waste and
untrodden, and men shall see it desolate.
[4] But if the Most High grants that you live, you shall see
it thrown into confusion after the third period; and the sun shall suddenly
shine forth at night,and the moon during the day.
[5] Blood shall drip from wood,and the stone shall utter its
voice;the peoples shall be troubled, and the stars shall fall.
[6] And one shall reign whom those who dwell on earth do not
expect, and the birds shall fly away together;
[7] and the sea of Sodom shall cast up fish; and one whom the
many do not know shall make his voice heard by night, and all shall hear
his voice.
[8] There shall be chaos also in many places, and fire shall
often break out, and the wild beasts shall roam beyond their haunts, and
menstruous women shall bring forth monsters.
[9] And salt waters shall be found in the sweet, and all friends
shall conquer one another; then shall reason hide itself, and wisdom shall
withdraw into its chamber,
[10] and it shall be sought by many but shall not be found,
and unrighteousness and unrestraint shall increase on earth.
[11] And one country shall ask its neighbor, `Has righteousness,
or any one who does right, passed through you?' And it will answer, `No.'
[12] And at that time men shall hope but not obtain; they shall
labor but their ways shall not prosper.
[13] These are the signs which I am permitted to tell you, and
if you pray again, and weep as you do now, and fast for seven days, you
shall hear yet greater things than these."
[14] Then I awoke, and my body shuddered violently, and my soul
was so troubled that it fainted.

[15] But the angel who had come and talked with me held me and
strengthened me and set me on my feet.
[16] Now on the second night Phaltiel, a chief of the people,
came to me and said, "Where have you been? And why is your face sad?

[17] Or do you not know that Israel has been entrusted to you
in the land of their exile?
[18] Rise therefore and eat some bread, so that you may not
forsake us, like a shepherd who leaves his flock in the power of cruel
wolves."
[19] Then I said to him, "Depart from me and do not come near
me for seven days, and then you may come to me." He heard what I said and
left me.

[20] So I fasted seven days, mourning and weeping, as Uriel the
angel had commanded me.
[21] And after seven days the thoughts of my heart were very
grievous to me again.

[22] Then my soul recovered the spirit of understanding, and
I began once more to speak words in the presence of the Most High.
[23] And I said, "O sovereign Lord, from every forest of the
earth and from all its trees thou hast chosen one vine,
[24] and from all the lands of the world thou hast chosen for
thyself one region, and from all the flowers of the world thou hast chosen
for thyself one lily,
[25] and from all the depths of the sea thou hast filled for
thyself one river, and from all the cities that have been built thou hast
consecrated Zion for thyself,
[26] and from all the birds that have been created thou hast
named for thyself one dove, and from all the flocks that have been made
thou hast provided for thyself one sheep,
[27] and from all the multitude of peoples thou hast gotten
for thyself one people; and to this people, whom thou hast loved, thou
hast given the law which is approved by all.
[28] And now, O Lord, why hast thou given over the one to the
many, and dishonored the one root beyond the others, and scattered thine
only one among the many?
[29] And those who opposed thy promises have trodden down those
who believed thy covenants.
[30] If thou dost really hate thy people, they should be punished
at thy own hands."
[31] When I had spoken these words, the angel who had come to
me on a previous night was sent to me,

[32] and he said to me, "Listen to me, and I will instruct you;
pay attention to me, and I will tell you more."
[33] And I said, "Speak, my lord." And he said to me, "Are you
greatly disturbed in mind over Israel? Or do you love him more than his
Maker does?"

[34] And I said, "No, my lord, but because of my grief I have
spoken; for every hour I suffer agonies of heart, while I strive to understand
the way of the Most High and to search out part of his judgment."

[35] And he said to me, "You cannot." And I said, "Why not, my
lord? Why then was I born? Or why did not my mother's womb become my grave,
that I might not see the travail of Jacob and the exhaustion of the people
of Israel?"

[36] He said to me, "Count up for me those who have not yet come,
and gather for me the scattered raindrops, and make the withered flowers
bloom again for me;

[37] open for me the closed chambers, and bring forth for me
the winds shut up in them, or show me the picture of a voice; and then
I will explain to you the travail that you ask to understand."
[38] And I said, "O sovereign Lord, who is able to know these
things except he whose dwelling is not with men?

[39] As for me, I am without wisdom, and how can I speak concerning
the things which thou hast asked me?"
[40] He said to me, "Just as you cannot do one of the things
that were mentioned, so you cannot discover my judgment, or the goal of
the love that I have promised my people."

[41] And I said, "Yet behold, O Lord, thou dost have charge of
those who are alive at the end, but what will those do who were before
us, or we, or those who come after us?"

[42] He said to me, "I shall liken my judgment to a circle; just
as for those who are last there is no slowness, so for those who are first
there is no haste."

[43] Then I answered and said, "Couldst thou not have created
at one time those who have been and those who are and those who will be,
that thou mightest show thy judgment the sooner?"

[44] He replied to me and said, "The creation cannot make more
haste than the Creator, neither can the world hold at one time those who
have been created in it."

[45] And I said, "How hast thou said to thy servant that thou
wilt certainly give life at one time to thy creation? If therefore all
creatures will live at one time and the creation will sustain them, it
might even now be able to support all of them present at one time."

[46] He said to me, "Ask a woman's womb, and say to it, `If you
bear ten children, why one after another?' Request it therefore to produce
ten at one time."

[47] I said, "Of course it cannot, but only each in its own time."

[48] He said to me, "Even so have I given the womb of the earth
to those who from time to time are sown in it.

[49] For as an infant does not bring forth, and a woman who has
become old does not bring forth any longer, so have I organized the world
which I created."
[50] Then I inquired and said, "Since thou hast now given me
the opportunity, let me speak before thee. Is our mother, of whom thou
hast told me, still young? Or is she now approaching old age?"

[51] He replied to me, "Ask a woman who bears children, and she
will tell you.

[52] Say to her, "Why are those whom you have borne recently
not like those whom you bore before, but smaller in stature?'
[53] And she herself will answer you, `Those born in the strength
of youth are different from those born during the time of old age, when
the womb is failing.'
[54] Therefore you also should consider that you and your contemporaries
are smaller in stature than those who were before you,
[55] and those who come after you will be smaller than you,
as born of a creation which already is aging and passing the strength of
youth."
[56] And I said, "O Lord, I beseech thee, if I have found favor
in thy sight, show thy servant through whom thou dost visit thy creation."

6

[1] And he said to me, "At the beginning of the circle of the earth,
before the portals of the world were in place, and before the assembled
winds blew,

[2] and before the rumblings of thunder sounded, and before the
flashes of lightning shone, and before the foundations of paradise were
laid,
[3] and before the beautiful flowers were seen, and before the
powers of movement were established, and before the innumerable hosts of
angels were gathered together,
[4] and before the heights of the air were lifted up, and before
the measures of the firmaments were named, and before the footstool of
Zion was established,
[5] and before the present years were reckoned; and before the
imaginations of those who now sin were estranged, and before those who
stored up treasures of faith were sealed --
[6] then I planned these things, and they were made through
me and not through another, just as the end shall come through me and not
through another."
[7] And I answered and said, "What will be the dividing of the
times? Or when will be the end of the first age and the beginning of the
age that follows?"

[8] He said to me, "From Abraham to Isaac, because from him were
born Jacob and Esau, for Jacob's hand held Esau's heel from the beginning.

[9] For Esau is the end of this age, and Jacob is the beginning
of the age that follows.
[10] For the beginning of a man is his hand, and the end of
a man is his heel; between the heel and the hand seek for nothing else,
Ezra!"
[11] I answered and said, "O sovereign Lord, if I have found
favor in thy sight,

[12] show thy servant the end of thy signs which thou didst show
me in part on a previous night."
[13] He answered and said to me, "Rise to your feet and you
will hear a full, resounding voice.

[14] And if the place where you are standing is greatly shaken
[15] while the voice is speaking, do not be terrified; because
the word concerns the end, and the foundations of the earth will understand
[16] that the speech concerns them. They will tremble and be
shaken, for they know that their end must be changed."
[17] When I heard this, I rose to my feet and listened, and
behold, a voice was speaking, and its sound was like the sound of many
waters.

[18] And it said, "Behold, the days are coming, and it shall
be that when I draw near to visit the inhabitants of the earth,
[19] and when I require from the doers of iniquity the penalty
of their iniquity, and when the humiliation of Zion is complete,
[20] and when the seal is placed upon the age which is about
to pass away, then I will show these signs: the books shall be opened before
the firmament, and all shall see it together.
[21] Infants a year old shall speak with their voices, and women
with child shall give birth to premature children at three and four months,
and these shall live and dance.
[22] Sown places shall suddenly appear unsown, and full storehouses
shall suddenly be found to be empty;
[23] and the trumpet shall sound aloud, and when all hear it,
they shall suddenly be terrified.
[24] At that time friends shall make war on friends like enemies,
and the earth and those who inhabit it shall be terrified, and the springs
of the fountains shall stand still, so that for three hours they shall
not flow.
[25] "And it shall be that whoever remains after all that I
have foretold to you shall himself be saved and shall see my salvation
and the end of my world.

[26] And they shall see the men who were taken up, who from their
birth have not tasted death; and the heart of the earth's inhabitants shall
be changed and converted to a different spirit.
[27] For evil shall be blotted out, and deceit shall be quenched;
[28] faithfulness shall flourish, and corruption shall be overcome,
and the truth, which has been so long without fruit, shall be revealed."
[29] While he spoke to me, behold, little by little the place
where I was standing began to rock to and fro.

[30] And he said to me, "I have come to show you these things
this night.
[31] If therefore you will pray again and fast again for seven
days, I will again declare to you greater things than these,
[32] because your voice has surely been heard before the Most
High; for the Mighty One has seen your uprightness and has also observed
the purity which you have maintained from your youth.
[33] Therefore he sent me to show you all these things, and
to say to you: `Believe and do not be afraid!
[34] Do not be quick to think vain thoughts concerning the former
times, lest you be hasty concerning the last times.'"
[35] Now after this I wept again and fasted seven days as before,
in order to complete the three weeks as I had been told.

[36] And on the eighth night my heart was troubled within me
again, and I began to speak in the presence of the Most High.
[37] For my spirit was greatly aroused, and my soul was in distress.
[38] I said, "O Lord, thou didst speak at the beginning of creation,
and didst say on the first day, `Let heaven and earth be made,' and thy
word accomplished the work.

[39] And then the Spirit was hovering, and darkness and silence
embraced everything; the sound of man's voice was not yet there.
[40] Then thou didst command that a ray of light be brought
forth from thy treasuries, so that thy works might then appear.
[41] "Again, on the second day, thou didst create the spirit
of the firmament, and didst command him to divide and separate the waters,
that one part might move upward and the other part remain beneath.

[42] "On the third day thou didst command the waters to be gathered
together in the seventh part of the earth; six parts thou didst dry up
and keep so that some of them might be planted and cultivated and be of
service before thee.

[43] For thy word went forth, and at once the work was done.
[44] For immediately fruit came forth in endless abundance and
of varied appeal to the taste; and flowers of inimitable color; and odors
of inexpressible fragrance. These were made on the third day.
[45] "On the fourth day thou didst command the brightness of
the sun, the light of the moon, and the arrangement of the stars to come
into being;

[46] and thou didst command them to serve man, who was about
to be formed.
[47] "On the fifth day thou didst command the seventh part,
where the water had been gathered together, to bring forth living creatures,
birds, and fishes; and so it was done.

[48] The dumb and lifeless water produced living creatures, as
it was commanded, that therefore the nations might declare thy wondrous
works.
[49] "Then thou didst keep in existence two living creatures;
the name of one thou didst call Behemoth and the name of the other Leviathan.

[50] And thou didst separate one from the other, for the seventh
part where the water had been gathered together could not hold them both.
[51] And thou didst give Behemoth one of the parts which had
been dried up on the third day, to live in it, where there are a thousand
mountains;
[52] but to Leviathan thou didst give the seventh part, the
watery part; and thou hast kept them to be eaten by whom thou wilt, and
when thou wilt.
[53] "On the sixth day thou didst command the earth to bring
forth before thee cattle, beasts, and creeping things;

[54] and over these thou didst place Adam, as ruler over all
the works which thou hadst made; and from him we have all come, the people
whom thou hast chosen.
[55] "All this I have spoken before thee, O Lord, because thou
hast said that it was for us that thou didst create this world.

[56] As for the other nations which have descended from Adam,
thou hast said that they are nothing, and that they are like spittle, and
thou hast compared their abundance to a drop from a bucket.
[57] And now, O Lord, behold, these nations, which are reputed
as nothing, domineer over us and devour us.
[58] But we thy people, whom thou hast called thy first-born,
only begotten, zealous for thee, and most dear, have been given into their
hands.
[59] If the world has indeed been created for us, why do we
not possess our world as an inheritance? How long will this be so?"

7

[1] When I had finished speaking these words, the angel who had
been sent to me on the former nights was sent to me again,

[2] and he said to me, "Rise, Ezra, and listen to the words that
I have come to speak to you."
[3] I said, "Speak, my lord." And he said to me, "There is a
sea set in a wide expanse so that it is broad and vast,

[4] but it has an entrance set in a narrow place, so that it
is like a river.
[5] If any one, then, wishes to reach the sea, to look at it
or to navigate it, how can he come to the broad part unless he passes through
the narrow part?
[6] Another example: There is a city built and set on a plain,
and it is full of all good things;
[7] but the entrance to it is narrow and set in a precipitous
place, so that there is fire on the right hand and deep water on the left;
[8] and there is only one path lying between them, that is,
between the fire and the water, so that only one man can walk upon that
path.
[9] If now that city is given to a man for an inheritance, how
will the heir receive his inheritance unless he passes through the danger
set before him?"
[10] I said, "He cannot, lord." And he said to me, "So also
is Israel's portion.

[11] For I made the world for their sake, and when Adam transgressed
my statutes, what had been made was judged.
[12] And so the entrances of this world were made narrow and
sorrowful and toilsome; they are few and evil, full of dangers and involved
in great hardships.
[13] But the entrances of the greater world are broad and safe,
and really yield the fruit of immortality.
[14] Therefore unless the living pass through the difficult
and vain experiences, they can never receive those things that have been
reserved for them.
[15] But now why are you disturbed, seeing that you are to perish?
And why are you moved, seeing that you are mortal?
[16] And why have you not considered in your mind what is to
come, rather than what is now present?"
[17] Then I answered and said, "O sovereign Lord, behold, thou
hast ordained in thy law that the righteous shall inherit these things,
but that the ungodly shall perish.

[18] The righteous therefore can endure difficult circumstances
while hoping for easier ones; but those who have done wickedly have suffered
the difficult circumstances and will not see the easier ones."
[19] And he said to me, "You are not a better judge than God,
or wiser than the Most High!

[20] Let many perish who are now living, rather than that the
law of God which is set before them be disregarded!
[21] For God strictly commanded those who came into the world,
when they came, what they should do to live, and what they should observe
to avoid punishment.
[22] Nevertheless they were not obedient, and spoke against
him; they devised for themselves vain thoughts,
[23] and proposed to themselves wicked frauds; they even declared
that the Most High does not exist, and they ignored his ways!
[24] They scorned his law, and denied his covenants; they have
been unfaithful to his statutes, and have not performed his works.
[25] "Therefore, Ezra, empty things are for the empty, and full
things are for the full.

[26] For behold, the time will come, when the signs which I have
foretold to you will come to pass, that the city which now is not seen
shall appear, and the land which now is hidden shall be disclosed.
[27] And every one who has been delivered from the evils that
I have foretold shall see my wonders.
[28] For my son the Messiah shall be revealed with those who
are with him, and those who remain shall rejoice four hundred years.
[29] And after these years my son the Messiah shall die, and
all who draw human breath.
[30] And the world shall be turned back to primeval silence
for seven days, as it was at the first beginnings; so that no one shall
be left.
[31] And after seven days the world, which is not yet awake,
shall be roused, and that which is corruptible shall perish.
[32] And the earth shall give up those who are asleep in it,
and the dust those who dwell silently in it; and the chambers shall give
up the souls which have been committed to them.
[33] And the Most High shall be revealed upon the seat of judgment,
and compassion shall pass away, and patience shall be withdrawn;
[34] but only judgment shall remain, truth shall stand, and
faithfulness shall grow strong.
[35] And recompense shall follow, and the reward shall be manifested;
righteous deeds shall awake, and unrighteous deeds shall not sleep.
[36] Then the pit of torment shall appear, and opposite it shall
be the place of rest; and the furnace of hell shall be disclosed, and opposite
it the paradise of delight.
[37] Then the Most High will say to the nations that have been
raised from the dead, `Look now, and understand whom you have denied, whom
you have not served, whose commandments you have despised!
[38] Look on this side and on that; here are delight and rest,
and there are fire and torments!' Thus he will speak to them on the day
of judgment --
[39] a day that has no sun or moon or stars,
[40] or cloud or thunder or lightning or wind or water or air,
or darkness or evening or morning,
[41] or summer or spring or heat or winter or frost or cold
or hail or rain or dew,
[42] or noon or night, or dawn or shining or brightness or light,
but only the splendor of the glory of the Most High, by which all shall
see what has been determined for them.
[43] For it will last for about a week of years.
[44] This is my judgment and its prescribed order; and to you
alone have I shown these things."
[45] I answered and said, "O sovereign Lord, I said then and
I say now: Blessed are those who are alive and keep thy commandments!

[46] But what of those for whom I prayed? For who among the living
is there that has not sinned, or who among men that has not transgressed
thy covenant?
[47] And now I see that the world to come will bring delight
to few, but torments to many.
[48] For an evil heart has grown up in us, which has alienated
us from God, and has brought us into corruption and the ways of death,
and has shown us the paths of perdition and removed us far from life --
and that not just a few of us but almost all who have been created!"
[49] He answered me and said, "Listen to me, Ezra, and I will
instruct you, and will admonish you yet again.

[50] For this reason the Most High has made not one world but
two.
[51] For whereas you have said that the righteous are not many
but few, while the ungodly abound, hear the explanation for this.
[52] "If you have just a few precious stones, will you add to
them lead and clay?"

[53] I said, "Lord, how could that be?"

[54] And he said to me, "Not only that, but ask the earth and
she will tell you; defer to her, and she will declare it to you.

[55] Say to her, `You produce gold and silver and brass, and
also iron and lead and clay;
[56] but silver is more abundant than gold, and brass than silver,
and iron than brass, and lead than iron, and clay than lead.'
[57] Judge therefore which things are precious and desirable,
those that are abundant or those that are rare?"
[58] I said, "O sovereign Lord, what is plentiful is of less
worth, for what is more rare is more precious."

[59] He answered me and said, "Weigh within yourself what you
have thought, for he who has what is hard to get rejoices more than he
who has what is plentiful.

[60] So also will be the judgment which I have promised; for
I will rejoice over the few who shall be saved, because it is they who
have made my glory to prevail now, and through them my name has now been
honored.
[61] And I will not grieve over the multitude of those who perish;
for it is they who are now like a mist, and are similar to a flame and
smoke -- they are set on fire and burn hotly, and are extinguished."
[62] I replied and said, "O earth, what have you brought forth,
if the mind is made out of the dust like the other created things!

[63] For it would have been better if the dust itself had not
been born, so that the mind might not have been made from it.
[64] But now the mind grows with us, and therefore we are tormented,
because we perish and know it.
[65] Let the human race lament, but let the beasts of the field
be glad; let all who have been born lament, but let the four-footed beasts
and the flocks rejoice!
[66] For it is much better with them than with us; for they
do not look for a judgment, nor do they know of any torment or salvation
promised to them after death.
[67] For what does it profit us that we shall be preserved alive
but cruelly tormented?
[68] For all who have been born are involved in iniquities,
and are full of sins and burdened with transgressions.
[69] And if we were not to come into judgment after death, perhaps
it would have been better for us."
[70] He answered me and said, "When the Most High made the world
and Adam and all who have come from him, he first prepared the judgment
and the things that pertain to the judgment.

[71] And now understand from your own words, for you have said
that the mind grows with us.
[72] For this reason, therefore, those who dwell on earth shall
be tormented, because though they had understanding they committed iniquity,
and though they received the commandments they did not keep them, and though
they obtained the law they dealt unfaithfully with what they received.
[73] What, then, will they have to say in the judgment, or how
will they answer in the last times?
[74] For how long the time is that the Most High has been patient
with those who inhabit the world, and not for their sake, but because of
the times which he has foreordained!"
[75] I answered and said, "If I have found favor in thy sight,
O Lord, show this also to thy servant: whether after death, as soon as
every one of us yields up his soul, we shall be kept in rest until those
times come when thou wilt renew the creation, or whether we shall be tormented
at once?"

[76] He answered me and said, "I will show you that also, but
do not be associated with those who have shown scorn, nor number yourself
among those who are tormented.

[77] For you have a treasure of works laid up with the Most High;
but it will not be shown to you until the last times.
[78] Now, concerning death, the teaching is: When the decisive
decree has gone forth from the Most High that a man shall die, as the spirit
leaves the body to return again to him who gave it, first of all it adores
the glory of the Most High.
[79] And if it is one of those who have shown scorn and have
not kept the way of the Most High, and who have despised his law, and who
have hated those who fear God --
[80] such spirits shall not enter into habitations, but shall
immediately wander about in torments, ever grieving and sad, in seven ways.
[81] The first way, because they have scorned the law of the
Most High.
[82] The second way, because they cannot now make a good repentance
that they may live.
[83] The third way, they shall see the reward laid up for those
who have trusted the covenants of the Most High.
[84] The fourth way, they shall consider the torment laid up
for themselves in the last days.
[85] The fifth way, they shall see how the habitations of the
others are guarded by angels in profound quiet.
[86] The sixth way, they shall see how some of them will pass
over into torments.
[87] The seventh way, which is worse than all the ways that
have been mentioned, because they shall utterly waste away in confusion
and be consumed with shame, and shall wither with fear at seeing the glory
of the Most High before whom they sinned while they were alive, and before
whom they are to be judged in the last times.
[88] "Now this is the order of those who have kept the ways
of the Most High, when they shall be separated from their mortal body.

[89] During the time that they lived in it, they laboriously
served the Most High, and withstood danger every hour, that they might
keep the law of the Lawgiver perfectly.
[90] Therefore this is the teaching concerning them:
[91] First of all, they shall see with great joy the glory of
him who receives them, for they shall have rest in seven orders.
[92] The first order, because they have striven with great effort
to overcome the evil thought which was formed with them, that it might
not lead them astray from life into death.
[93] The second order, because they see the perplexity in which
the souls of the ungodly wander, and the punishment that awaits them.
[94] The third order, they see the witness which he who formed
them bears concerning them, that while they were alive they kept the law
which was given them in trust.
[95] The fourth order, they understand the rest which they now
enjoy, being gathered into their chambers and guarded by angels in profound
quiet, and the glory which awaits them in the last days.
[96] The fifth order, they rejoice that they have now escaped
what is corruptible, and shall inherit what is to come; and besides they
see the straits and toil from which they have been delivered, and the spacious
liberty which they are to receive and enjoy in immortality.
[97] The sixth order, when it is shown to them how their face
is to shine like the sun, and how they are to be made like the light of
the stars, being incorruptible from then on.
[98] The seventh order, which is greater than all that have
been mentioned, because they shall rejoice with boldness, and shall be
confident without confusion, and shall be glad without fear, for they hasten
to behold the face of him whom they served in life and from whom they are
to receive their reward when glorified.
[99] This is the order of the souls of the righteous, as henceforth
is announced; and the aforesaid are the ways of torment which those who
would not give heed shall suffer hereafter."
[100] I answered and said, "Will time therefore be given to
the souls, after they have been separated from the bodies, to see what
you have described to me?"

[101] He said to me, "They shall have freedom for seven days,
so that during these seven days they may see the things of which you have
been told, and afterwards they shall be gathered in their habitations."

[102] I answered and said, "If I have found favor in thy sight,
show further to me, thy servant, whether on the day of judgment the righteous
will be able to intercede for the ungodly or to entreat the Most High for
them,

[103] fathers for sons or sons for parents, brothers for brothers,
relatives for their kinsmen, or friends for those who are most dear."
[104] He answered me and said, "Since you have found favor in
my sight, I will show you this also. The day of judgment is decisive and
displays to all the seal of truth. Just as now a father does not send his
son, or a son his father, or a master his servant, or a friend his dearest
friend, to be ill or sleep or eat or be healed in his stead,

[105] so no one shall ever pray for another on that day, neither
shall any one lay a burden on another; for then every one shall bear his
own righteousness and unrighteousness."
[36(106)] I answered and said, "How then do we find that first
Abraham prayed for the people of Sodom, and Moses for our fathers who sinned
in the desert,

[37(107)] and Joshua after him for Israel in the days of Achan,
[38(108)] and Samuel in the days of Saul, and David for the
plague, and Solomon for those in the sanctuary,
[39(109)] and Elijah for those who received the rain, and for
the one who was dead, that he might live,
[40(110)] and Hezekiah for the people in the days of Sennacherib,
and many others prayed for many?
[41(111)] If therefore the righteous have prayed for the ungodly
now, when corruption has increased and unrighteousness has multiplied,
why will it not be so then as well?"
[42(112)] He answered me and said, "This present world is not
the end; the full glory does not abide in it; therefore those who were
strong prayed for the weak.

[43(113)] But the day of judgment will be the end of this age
and the beginning of the immortal age to come, in which corruption has
passed away,
[44(114)] sinful indulgence has come to an end, unbelief has
been cut off, and righteousness has increased and truth has appeared.
[45(115)] Therefore no one will then be able to have mercy on
him who has been condemned in the judgment, or to harm him who is victorious."
[46(116)] I answered and said, "This is my first and last word,
that it would have been better if the earth had not produced Adam, or else,
when it had produced him, had restrained him from sinning.

[47(117)] For what good is it to all that they live in sorrow
now and expect punishment after death?
[48(118)] O Adam, what have you done? For though it was you
who sinned, the fall was not yours alone, but ours also who are your descendants.
[49(119)] For what good is it to us, if an eternal age has been
promised to us, but we have done deeds that bring death?
[50(120)] And what good is it that an everlasting hope has been
promised to us, but we have miserably failed?
[51(121)] Or that safe and healthful habitations have been reserved
for us, but we have lived wickedly?
[52(122)] Or that the glory of the Most High will defend those
who have led a pure life, but we have walked in the most wicked ways?
[53(123)] Or that a paradise shall be revealed, whose fruit
remains unspoiled and in which are abundance and healing, but we shall
not enter it,
[54(124)] because we have lived in unseemly places?
[55(125)] Or that the faces of those who practiced self-control
shall shine more than the stars, but our faces shall be blacker than darkness?
[56(126)] For while we lived and committed iniquity we did not
consider what we should suffer after death."
[57(127)] He answered and said, "This is the meaning of the
contest which every man who is born on earth shall wage,

[58(128)] that if he is defeated he shall suffer what you have
said, but if he is victorious he shall receive what I have said.
[59(129)] For this is the way of which Moses, while he was alive,
spoke to the people, saying, `Choose for yourself life, that you may live!'
[60(130)] But they did not believe him, or the prophets after
him, or even myself who have spoken to them.
[61(131)] Therefore there shall not be grief at their destruction,
so much as joy over those to whom salvation is assured."
[62(132)] I answered and said, "I know, O Lord, that the Most
High is now called merciful, because he has mercy on those who have not
yet come into the world;
[63(133)] and gracious, because he is gracious to those who
turn in repentance to his law;
[64(134)] and patient, because he shows patience toward those
who have sinned, since they are his own works;
[65(135)] and bountiful, because he would rather give than take
away;
[66(136)] and abundant in compassion, because he makes his compassions
abound more and more to those now living and to those who are gone and
to those yet to come,
[67(137)] for if he did not make them abound, the world with
those who inhabit it would not have life;
[68(138)] and he is called giver, because if he did not give
out of his goodness so that those who have committed iniquities might be
relieved of them, not one ten-thousandth of mankind could have life;
[69(139)] and judge, because if he did not pardon those who
were created by his word and blot out the multitude of their sins,
[70(140)] there would probably be left only very few of the
innumerable multitude."

8

[1] He answered me and said, "The Most High made this world for
the sake of many, but the world to come for the sake of few.
[2] But I tell you a parable, Ezra. Just as, when you ask the
earth, it will tell you that it provides very much clay from which earthenware
is made, but only a little dust from which gold comes; so is the course
of the present world.
[3] Many have been created, but few shall be saved."
[4] I answered and said, "Then drink your fill of understanding,
O my soul, and drink wisdom, O my heart!
[5] For not of your own will did you come into the world, and
against your will you depart, for you have been given only a short time
to live.
[6] O Lord who are over us, grant to thy servant that we may
pray before thee, and give us seed for our heart and cultivation of our
understanding so that fruit may be produced, by which every mortal who
bears the likeness of a human being may be able to live.
[7] For thou alone dost exist, and we are a work of thy hands,
as thou hast declared.
[8] And because thou dost give life to the body which is now
fashioned in the womb, and dost furnish it with members, what thou hast
created is preserved in fire and water, and for nine months the womb which
thou has formed endures thy creation which has been created in it.
[9] But that which keeps and that which is kept shall both be
kept by thy keeping. And when the womb gives up again what has been created
in it,
[10] thou hast commanded that from the members themselves (that
is, from the breasts) milk should be supplied which is the fruit of the
breasts,
[11] so that what has been fashioned may be nourished for a
time; and afterwards thou wilt guide him in thy mercy.
[12] Thou hast brought him up in thy righteousness, and instructed
him in thy law, and reproved him in thy wisdom.
[13] Thou wilt take away his life, for he is thy creation; and
thou wilt make him live, for he is thy work.
[14] If then thou wilt suddenly and quickly destroy him who
with so great labor was fashioned by thy command, to what purpose was he
made?
[15] And now I will speak out: About all mankind thou knowest
best; but I will speak about thy people, for whom I am grieved,
[16] and about thy inheritance, for whom I lament, and about
Israel, for whom I am sad, and about the seed of Jacob, for whom I am troubled.
[17] Therefore I will pray before thee for myself and for them,
for I see the failings of us who dwell in the land,
[18] and I have heard of the swiftness of the judgment that
is to come.
[19] Therefore hear my voice, and understand my words, and I
will speak before thee." The beginning of the words of Ezra's prayer, before
he was taken up. He said:
[20] "O Lord who inhabitest eternity, whose eyes are exalted
and whose upper chambers are in the air,
[21] whose throne is beyond measure and whose glory is beyond
comprehension, before whom the hosts of angels stand trembling
[22] and at whose command they are changed to wind and fire,
whose word is sure and whose utterances are certain, whose ordinance is
strong and whose command is terrible,
[23] whose look dries up the depths and whose indignation makes
the mountains melt away, and whose truth is established for ever --
[24] hear, O Lord, the prayer of thy servant, and give ear to
the petition of thy creature; attend to my words.
[25] For as long as I live I will speak, and as long as I have
understanding I will answer.
[26] O look not upon the sins of thy people, but at those who
have served thee in truth.
[27] Regard not the endeavors of those who act wickedly, but
the endeavors of those who have kept thy covenants amid afflictions.
[28] Think not on those who have lived wickedly in thy sight;
but remember those who have willingly acknowledged that thou art to be
feared.
[29] Let it not be thy will to destroy those who have had the
ways of cattle; but regard those who have gloriously taught thy law.
[30] Be not angry with those who are deemed worse than beasts;
but love those who have always put their trust in thy glory.
[31] For we and our fathers have passed our lives in ways that
bring death, but thou, because of us sinners, are called merciful.
[32] For if thou hast desired to have pity on us, who have no
works of righteousness, then thou wilt be called merciful.
[33] For the righteous, who have many works laid up with thee,
shall receive their reward in consequence of their own deeds.
[34] But what is man, that thou art angry with him; or what
is a corruptible race, that thou art so bitter against it?
[35] For in truth there is no one among those who have been
born who has not acted wickedly, and among those who have existed there
is no one who has not transgressed.
[36] For in this, O Lord, thy righteousness and goodness will
be declared, when thou art merciful to those who have no store of good
works."
[37] He answered me and said, "Some things you have spoken rightly,
and it will come to pass according to your words.
[38] For indeed I will not concern myself about the fashioning
of those who have sinned, or about their death, their judgment, or their
destruction;
[39] but I will rejoice over the creation of the righteous,
over their pilgrimage also, and their salvation, and their receiving their
reward.
[40] As I have spoken, therefore, so it shall be.
[41] "For just as the farmer sows many seeds upon the ground
and plants a multitude of seedlings, and yet not all that have been sown
will come up in due season, and not all that were planted will take root;
so also those who have been sown in the world will not all be saved."
[42] I answered and said, "If I have found favor before thee,
let me speak.
[43] For if the farmer's seed does not come up, because it has
not received thy rain in due season, or if it has been ruined by too much
rain, it perishes.
[44] But man, who has been formed by thy hands and is called
thy own image because he is made like thee, and for whose sake thou hast
formed all things -- hast thou also made him like the farmer's seed?
[45] No, O Lord who art over us! But spare thy people and have
mercy on thy inheritance, for thou hast mercy on thy own creation."
[46] He answered me and said, "Things that are present are for
those who live now, and things that are future are for those who will live
hereafter.
[47] For you come far short of being able to love my creation
more than I love it. But you have often compared yourself to the unrighteous.
Never do so!
[48] But even in this respect you will be praiseworthy before
the Most High,
[49] because you have humbled yourself, as is becoming for you,
and have not deemed yourself to be among the righteous in order to receive
the greatest glory.
[50] For many miseries will affect those who inhabit the world
in the last times, because they have walked in great pride.
[51] But think of your own case, and inquire concerning the
glory of those who are like yourself,
[52] because it is for you that paradise is opened, the tree
of life is planted, the age to come is prepared, plenty is provided, a
city is built, rest is appointed, goodness is established and wisdom perfected
beforehand.
[53] The root of evil is sealed up from you, illness is banished
from you, and death is hidden; hell has fled and corruption has been forgotten;
[54] sorrows have passed away, and in the end the treasure of
immortality is made manifest.
[55] Therefore do not ask any more questions about the multitude
of those who perish.
[56] For they also received freedom , but they despised the
Most High, and were contemptuous of his law, and forsook his ways.
[57] Moreover they have even trampled upon his righteous ones,
[58] and said in their hearts that there is not God -- though
knowing full well that they must die.
[59] For just as the things which I have predicted await you,
so the thirst and torment which are prepared await them. For the Most High
did not intend that men should be destroyed;
[60] but they themselves who were created have defiled the name
of him who made them, and have been ungrateful to him who prepared life
for them.
[61] Therefore my judgment is now drawing near;
[62] I have not shown this to all men, but only to you and a
few like you." Then I answered and said,
[63] "Behold, O Lord, thou hast now shown me a multitude of
the signs which thou wilt do in the last times, but thou hast not shown
me when thou wilt do them."

9

[1] He answered me and said, "Measure carefully in your mind, and
when you see that a certain part of the predicted signs are past,
[2] then you will know that it is the very time when the Most
High is about to visit the world which he has made.
[3] So when there shall appear in the world earthquakes, tumult
of peoples, intrigues of nations, wavering of leaders, confusion of princes,
[4] then you will know that it was of these that the Most High
spoke from the days that were of old, from the beginning.
[5] For just as with everything that has occurred in the world,
the beginning is evident, and the end manifest;
[6] so also are the times of the Most High: the beginnings are
manifest in wonders and mighty works, and the end in requital and in signs.
[7] And it shall be that every one who will be saved and will
be able to escape on account of his works, or on account of the faith by
which he has believed,
[8] will survive the dangers that have been predicted, and will
see my salvation in my land and within my borders, which I have sanctified
for myself from the beginning.
[9] Then those who have now abused my ways shall be amazed,
and those who have rejected them with contempt shall dwell in torments.
[10] For as many as did not acknowledge me in their lifetime,
although they received my benefits,
[11] and as many as scorned my law while they still had freedom,
and did not understand but despised it while an opportunity of repentance
was still open to them,
[12] these must in torment acknowledge it after death.
[13] Therefore, do not continue to be curious as to how the
ungodly will be punished; but inquire how the righteous will be saved,
those to whom the age belongs and for whose sake the age was made."
[14] I answered and said,
[15] "I said before, and I say now, and will say it again: there
are more who perish than those who will be saved,
[16] as a wave is greater than a drop of water."
[17] He answered me and said, "As is the field, so is the seed;
and as are the flowers, so are the colors; and as is the work, so is the
product; and as is the farmer, so is the threshing floor.
[18] For there was a time in this age when I was preparing for
those who now exist, before the world was made for them to dwell in, and
no one opposed me then, for no one existed;
[19] but now those who have been created in this world which
is supplied both with an unfailing table and an inexhaustible pasture,
have become corrupt in their ways.
[20] So I considered my world, and behold, it was lost, and
my earth, and behold, it was in peril because of the devices of those who
had come into it.
[21] And I saw and spared some with great difficulty, and saved
for myself one grape out of a cluster, and one plant out of a great forest.
[22] So let the multitude perish which has been born in vain,
but let my grape and my plant be saved, because with much labor I have
perfected them.
[23] But if you will let seven days more pass -- do not fast
during them, however;
[24] but go into a field of flowers where no house has been
built, and eat only of the flowers of the field, and taste no meat and
drink no wine, but eat only flowers,
[25] and pray to the Most High continually -- then I will come
and talk with you."
[26] So I went, as he directed me, into the field which is called
Ardat; and there I sat among the flowers and ate of the plants of the field,
and the nourishment they afforded satisfied me.
[27] And after seven days, as I lay on the grass, my heart was
troubled again as it was before.
[28] And my mouth was opened, and I began to speak before the
Most High, and said,
[29] "O Lord, thou didst show thyself among us, to our fathers
in the wilderness when they came out from Egypt and when they came into
the untrodden and unfruitful wilderness;
[30] and thou didst say, `Hear me, O Israel, and give heed to
my words, O descendants of Jacob.
[31] For behold, I sow my law in you, and it shall bring forth
fruit in you and you shall be glorified through it for ever.'
[32] But though our fathers received the law, they did not keep
it, and did not observe the statutes; yet the fruit of the law did not
perish -- for it could not, because it was thine.
[33] Yet those who received it perished, because they did not
keep what had been sown in them.
[34] And behold, it is the rule that, when the ground has received
seed, or the sea a ship, or any dish food or drink, and when it happens
that what was sown or what was launched or what was put in is destroyed,
[35] they are destroyed, but the things that held them remain;
yet with us it has not been so.
[36] For we who have received the law and sinned will perish,
as well as our heart which received it;
[37] the law, however, does not perish but remains in its glory."
[38] When I said these things in my heart, I lifted up my eyes
and saw a woman on my right, and behold, she was mourning and weeping with
a loud voice, and was deeply grieved at heart, and her clothes were rent,
and there were ashes on her head.
[39] Then I dismissed the thoughts with which I had been engaged,
and turned to her
[40] and said to her, "Why are you weeping, and why are you
grieved at heart?"
[41] And she said to me, "Let me alone, my lord, that I may
weep for myself and continue to mourn, for I am greatly embittered in spirit
and deeply afflicted."
[42] And I said to her, "What has happened to you? Tell me."
[43] And she said to me, "Your servant was barren and had no
child, though I lived with my husband thirty years.
[44] And every hour and every day during those thirty years
I besought the Most High, night and day.
[45] And after thirty years God heard your handmaid, and looked
upon my low estate, and considered my distress, and gave me a son. And
I rejoiced greatly over him, I and my husband and all my neighbors; and
we gave great glory to the Mighty One.
[46] And I brought him up with much care.
[47] So when he grew up and I came to take a wife for him, I
set a day for the marriage feast.

10

[1] "But it happened that when my son entered his wedding chamber,
he fell down and died.
[2] Then we all put out the lamps, and all my neighbors attempted
to console me; and I remained quiet until evening of the second day.
[3] But when they all had stopped consoling me, that I might
be quiet, I got up in the night and fled, and came to this field, as you
see.
[4] And now I intend not to return to the city, but to stay
here, and I will neither eat nor drink, but without ceasing mourn and fast
until I die."
[5] Then I broke off the reflections with which I was still
engaged, and answered her in anger and said,
[6] "You most foolish of women, do you not see our mourning,
and what has happened to us?
[7] For Zion, the mother of us all, is in deep grief and great
affliction.
[8] It is most appropriate to mourn now, because we are all
mourning, and to be sorrowful, because we are all sorrowing; you are sorrowing
for one son, but we, the whole world, for our mother.
[9] Now ask the earth, and she will tell you that it is she
who ought to mourn over so many who have come into being upon her.
[10] And from the beginning all have been born of her, and others
will come; and behold, almost all go to perdition, and a multitude of them
are destined for destruction.
[11] Who then ought to mourn the more, she who lost so great
a multitude, or you who are grieving for one?
[12] But if you say to me, `My lamentation is not like the earth's,
for I have lost the fruit of my womb, which I brought forth in pain and
bore in sorrow;
[13] but it is with the earth according to the way of the earth
-- the multitude that is now in it goes as it came';
[14] then I say to you, `As you brought forth in sorrow, so
the earth also has from the beginning given her fruit, that is, man, to
him who made her.'
[15] Now, therefore, keep your sorrow to yourself, and bear
bravely the troubles that have come upon you.
[16] For if you acknowledge the decree of God to be just, you
will receive your son back in due time, and will be praised among women.
[17] Therefore go into the city to your husband."
[18] She said to me, "I will not do so; I will not go into the
city, but I will die here."
[19] So I spoke again to her, and said,
[20] "Do not say that, but let yourself be persuaded because
of the troubles of Zion, and be consoled because of the sorrow of Jerusalem.
[21] For you see that our sanctuary has been laid waste, our
altar thrown down, our temple destroyed;
[22] our harp has been laid low, our song has been silenced,
and our rejoicing has been ended; the light of our lampstand has been put
out, the ark of our covenant has been plundered, our holy things have been
polluted, and the name by which we are called has been profaned; our free
men have suffered abuse, our priests have been burned to death, our Levites
have gone into captivity, our virgins have been defiled, and our wives
have been ravished; our righteous men have been carried off, our little
ones have been cast out, our young men have been enslaved and our strong
men made powerless.
[23] And, what is more than all, the seal of Zion -- for she
has now lost the seal of her glory, and has been given over into the hands
of those that hate us.
[24] Therefore shake off your great sadness and lay aside your
many sorrows, so that the Mighty One may be merciful to you again, and
the Most High may give you rest, a relief from your troubles."
[25] While I was talking to her, behold, her face suddenly shone
exceedingly, and her countenance flashed like lightning, so that I was
too frightened to approach her, and my heart was terrified. While I was
wondering what this meant,
[26] behold, she suddenly uttered a loud and fearful cry, so
that the earth shook at the sound.
[27] And I looked, and behold, the woman was no longer visible
to me, but there was an established city, and a place of huge foundations
showed itself. Then I was afraid, and cried with a loud voice and said,
[28] "Where is the angel Uriel, who came to me at first? For
it was he who brought me into this overpowering bewilderment; my end has
become corruption, and my prayer a reproach."
[29] As I was speaking these words, behold, the angel who had
come to me at first came to me, and he looked upon me;
[30] and behold, I lay there like a corpse and I was deprived
of my understanding. Then he grasped my right hand and strengthened me
and set me on my feet, and said to me,
[31] "What is the matter with you? And why are you troubled?
And why are your understanding and the thoughts of your mind troubled?"
[32] I said, "Because you have forsaken me! I did as you directed,
and went out into the field, and behold, I saw, and still see, what I am
unable to explain."
[33] He said to me, "Stand up like a man, and I will instruct
you."
[34] I said, "Speak, my lord; only do not forsake me, lest I
die before my time.
[35] For I have seen what I did not know, and I have heard what
I do not understand.
[36] Or is my mind deceived, and my soul dreaming?
[37] Now therefore I entreat you to give your servant an explanation
of this bewildering vision."
[38] He answered me and said, "Listen to me and I will inform
you, and tell you about the things which you fear, for the Most High has
revealed many secrets to you.
[39] For he has seen your righteous conduct, that you have sorrowed
continually for your people, and mourned greatly over Zion.
[40] This therefore is the meaning of the vision.
[41] The woman who appeared to you a little while ago, whom
you saw mourning and began to console --
[42] but you do not now see the form of a woman, but an established
city has appeared to you --
[43] and as for her telling you about the misfortune of her
son, this is the interpretation:
[44] This woman whom you saw, whom you now behold as an established
city, is Zion.
[45] And as for her telling you that she was barren for thirty
years, it is because there were three thousand years in the world before
any offering was offered in it.
[46] And after three thousand years Solomon built the city,
and offered offerings; then it was that the barren woman bore a son.
[47] And as for her telling you that she brought him up with
much care, that was the period of residence in Jerusalem.
[48] And as for her saying to you , `When my son entered his
wedding chamber he died,' and that misfortune had overtaken her, that was
the destruction which befell Jerusalem.
[49] And behold, you saw her likeness, how she mourned for her
son, and you began to console her for what had happened.
[50] For now the Most High, seeing that you are sincerely grieved
and profoundly distressed for her, has shown you the brilliance of her
glory, and the loveliness of her beauty.
[51] Therefore I told you to remain in the field where no house
had been built,
[52] for I knew that the Most High would reveal these things
to you.
[53] Therefore I told you to go into the field where there was
no foundation of any building,
[54] for no work of man's building could endure in a place where
the city of the Most High was to be revealed.
[55] "Therefore do not be afraid, and do not let your heart
be terrified; but go in and see the splendor and vastness of the building,
as far as it is possible for your eyes to see it,
[56] and afterward you will hear as much as your ears can hear.
[57] For you are more blessed than many, and you have been called
before the Most High, as but few have been.
[58] But tomorrow night you shall remain here,
[59] and the Most High will show you in those dream visions
what the Most High will do to those who dwell on earth in the last days."
So I slept that night and the following one, as he had commanded me.

11

[1] On the second night I had a dream, and behold, there came up
from the sea an eagle that had twelve feathered wings and three heads.
[2] And I looked, and behold, he spread his wings over all the
earth, and all the winds of heaven blew upon him, and the clouds were gathered
about him.
[3] And I looked, and out of his wings there grew opposing wings;
but they became little, puny wings.
[4] But his heads were at rest; the middle head was larger than
the other heads, but it also was at rest with them.
[5] And I looked, and behold, the eagle flew with his wings,
to reign over the earth and over those who dwell in it.
[6] And I saw how all things under heaven were subjected to
him, and no one spoke against him, not even one creature that was on the
earth.
[7] And I looked, and behold, the eagle rose upon his talons,
and uttered a cry to his wings, saying,
[8] "Do not all watch at the same time; let each sleep in his
own place, and watch in his turn;
[9] but let the heads be reserved for the last."
[10] And I looked, and behold, the voice did not come from his
heads, but from the midst of his body.
[11] And I counted his opposing wings, and behold, there were
eight of them.
[12] And I looked, and behold, on the right side one wing arose,
and it reigned over all the earth.
[13] And while it was reigning it came to its end and disappeared,
so that its place was not seen. Then the next wing arose and reigned, and
it continued to reign a long time.
[14] And while it was reigning its end came also, so that it
disappeared like the first.
[15] And behold, a voice sounded, saying to it.
[16] "Hear me, you who have ruled the earth all this time; I
announce this to you before you disappear.
[17] After you no one shall rule as long as you, or even half
as long."
[18] Then the third wing raised itself up, and held the rule
like the former ones, and it also disappeared.
[19] And so it went with all the wings; they wielded power one
after another and then were never seen again.
[20] And I looked, and behold, in due course the wings that
followed also rose up on the right side, in order to rule. There were some
of them that ruled, yet disappeared suddenly;
[21] and others of them rose up, but did not hold the rule.
[22] And after this I looked, and behold, the twelve wings and
the two little wings disappeared;
[23] and nothing remained on the eagle's body except the three
heads that were at rest and six little wings.
[24] And I looked, and behold, two little wings separated from
the six and remained under the head that was on the right side; but four
remained in their place.
[25] And I looked, and behold, these little wings planned to
set themselves up and hold the rule.
[26] And I looked, and behold, one was set up, but suddenly
disappeared;
[27] a second also, and this disappeared more quickly than the
first.
[28] And I looked, and behold, the two that remained were planning
between themselves to reign together;
[29] and while they were planning, behold, one of the heads
that were at rest (the one which was in the middle) awoke; for it was greater
than the other two heads.
[30] And I saw how it allied the two heads with itself,
[31] and behold, the head turned with those that were with it,
and it devoured the two little wings which were planning to reign.
[32] Moreover this head gained control of the whole earth, and
with much oppression dominated its inhabitants; and it had greater power
over the world than all the wings that had gone before.
[33] And after this I looked, and behold, the middle head also
suddenly disappeared, just as the wings had done.
[34] But the two heads remained, which also ruled over the earth
and its inhabitants.
[35] And I looked, and behold, the head on the right side devoured
the one on the left.
[36] Then I heard a voice saying to me, "Look before you and
consider what you see."
[37] And I looked, and behold, a creature like a lion was aroused
out of the forest, roaring; and I heard how he uttered a man's voice to
the eagle, and spoke, saying,
[38] "Listen and I will speak to you. The Most High says to
you,
[39] `Are you not the one that remains of the four beasts which
I had made to reign in my world, so that the end of my times might come
through them?
[40] You, the fourth that has come, have conquered all the beasts
that have gone before; and you have held sway over the world with much
terror, and over all the earth with grievous oppression; and for so long
you have dwelt on the earth with deceit.
[41] And you have judged the earth, but not with truth;
[42] for you have afflicted the meek and injured the peaceable;
you have hated those who tell the truth, and have loved liars; you have
destroyed the dwellings of those who brought forth fruit, and have laid
low the walls of those who did you no harm.
[43] And so your insolence has come up before the Most High,
and your pride to the Mighty One.
[44] And the Most High has looked upon his times, and behold,
they are ended, and his ages are completed!
[45] Therefore you will surely disappear, you eagle, and your
terrifying wings, and your most evil little wings, and your malicious heads,
and your most evil talons, and your whole worthless body,
[46] so that the whole earth, freed from your violence, may
be refreshed and relieved, and may hope for the judgment and mercy of him
who made it.'"

12

[1] While the lion was saying these words to the eagle, I looked,
[2] and behold, the remaining head disappeared. And the two
wings that had gone over to it arose and set themselves up to reign, and
their reign was brief and full of tumult.
[3] And I looked, and behold, they also disappeared, and the
whole body of the eagle was burned, and the earth was exceedingly terrified.
Then I awoke in great perplexity of mind and great fear, and I said to
my spirit,
[4] "Behold, you have brought this upon me, because you search
out the ways of the Most High.
[5] Behold, I am still weary in mind and very weak in my spirit,
and not even a little strength is left in me, because of the great fear
with which I have been terrified this night.
[6] Therefore I will now beseech the Most High that he may strengthen
me to the end."
[7] And I said, "O sovereign Lord, if I have found favor in
thy sight, and if I have been accounted righteous before thee beyond many
others, and if my prayer has indeed come up before thy face,
[8] strengthen me and show me, thy servant, the interpretation
and meaning of this terrifying vision, that thou mayest fully comfort my
soul.
[9] For thou hast judged me worthy to be shown the end of the
times and the last events of the times."
[10] He said to me, "This is the interpretation of this vision
which you have seen:
[11] The eagle which you saw coming up from the sea is the fourth
kingdom which appeared in a vision to your brother Daniel.
[12] But it was not explained to him as I now explain or have
explained it to you.
[13] Behold, the days are coming when a kingdom shall arise
on earth, and it shall be more terrifying than all the kingdoms that have
been before it.
[14] And twelve kings shall reign in it, one after another.
[15] But the second that is to reign shall hold sway for a longer
time than any other of the twelve.
[16] This is the interpretation of the twelve wings which you
saw.
[17] As for your hearing a voice that spoke, coming not from
the eagle's heads but from the midst of his body, this is the interpretation:
[18] In the midst of the time of that kingdom great struggles
shall arise, and it shall be in danger of falling; nevertheless it shall
not fall then, but shall regain its former power.
[19] As for your seeing eight little wings clinging to his wings,
this is the interpretation:
[20] Eight kings shall arise in it, whose times shall be short
and their years swift;
[21] and two of them shall perish when the middle of its time
draws near; and four shall be kept for the time when its end approaches;
but two shall be kept until the end.
[22] As for your seeing three heads at rest, this is the interpretation:
[23] In its last days the Most High will raise up three kings,
and they shall renew many things in it, and shall rule the earth
[24] and its inhabitants more oppressively than all who were
before them; therefore they are called the heads of the eagle.
[25] For it is they who shall sum up his wickedness and perform
his last actions.
[26] As for your seeing that the large head disappeared, one
of the kings shall die in his bed, but in agonies.
[27] But as for the two who remained, the sword shall devour
them.
[28] For the sword of one shall devour him who was with him;
but he also shall fall by the sword in the last days.
[29] As for your seeing two little wings passing over to the
head which was on the right side,
[30] this is the interpretation: It is these whom the Most High
has kept for the eagle's end; this was the reign which was brief and full
of tumult, as you have seen.
[31] "And as for the lion whom you saw rousing up out of the
forest and roaring and speaking to the eagle and reproving him for his
unrighteousness, and as for all his words that you have heard,
[32] this is the Messiah whom the Most High has kept until the
end of days, who will arise from the posterity of David, and will come
and speak to them; he will denounce them for their ungodliness and for
their wickedness, and will cast up before them their contemptuous dealings.
[33] For first he will set them living before his judgment seat,
and when he has reproved them, then he will destroy them.
[34] But he will deliver in mercy the remnant of my people,
those who have been saved throughout my borders, and he will make them
joyful until the end comes, the day of judgment, of which I spoke to you
at the beginning.
[35] This is the dream that you saw, and this is its interpretation.
[36] And you alone were worthy to learn this secret of the Most
High.
[37] Therefore write all these things that you have seen in
a book, and put it in a hidden place;
[38] and you shall teach them to the wise among your people,
whose hearts you know are able to comprehend and keep these secrets.
[39] But wait here seven days more, so that you may be shown
whatever it pleases the Most High to show you." Then he left me.
[40] When all the people heard that the seven days were past
and I had not returned to the city, they all gathered together, from the
least to the greatest, and came to me and spoke to me, saying,
[41] "How have we offended you, and what harm have we done you,
that you have forsaken us and sit in this place?
[42] For of all the prophets you alone are left to us, like
a cluster of grapes from the vintage, and like a lamp in a dark place,
and like a haven for a ship saved from a storm.
[43] Are not the evils which have befallen us sufficient?
[44] Therefore if you forsake us, how much better it would have
been for us if we also had been consumed in the burning of Zion!
[45] For we are no better than those who died there." And they
wept with a loud voice. Then I answered them and said,
[46] "Take courage, O Israel; and do not be sorrowful, O house
of Jacob;
[47] for the Most High has you in remembrance, and the Mighty
One has not forgotten you in your struggle.
[48] As for me, I have neither forsaken you nor withdrawn from
you; but I have come to this place to pray on account of the desolation
of Zion, and to seek mercy on account of the humiliation of our sanctuary.
[49] Now go, every one of you to his house, and after these
days I will come to you."
[50] So the people went into the city, as I told them to do.
[51] But I sat in the field seven days, as the angel had commanded
me; and I ate only of the flowers of the field, and my food was of plants
during those days.

13

[1] After seven days I dreamed a dream in the night;
[2] and behold, a wind arose from the sea and stirred up all
its waves.
[3] And I looked, and behold, this wind made something like
the figure of a man come up out of the heart of the sea. And I looked,
and behold, that man flew with the clouds of heaven; and wherever he turned
his face to look, everything under his gaze trembled,
[4] and whenever his voice issued from his mouth, all who heard
his voice melted as wax melts when it feels the fire.
[5] After this I looked, and behold, an innumerable multitude
of men were gathered together from the four winds of heaven to make war
against the man who came up out of the sea.
[6] And I looked, and behold, he carved out for himself a great
mountain, and flew up upon it.
<
br>[7] And I tried to see the region or place from which the mountain
was carved, but I could not.
[8] After this I looked, and behold, all who had gathered together
against him, to wage war with him, were much afraid, yet dared to fight.
[9] And behold, when he saw the onrush of the approaching multitude,
he neither lifted his hand nor held a spear or any weapon of war;
[10] but I saw only how he sent forth from his mouth as it were
a stream of fire, and from his lips a flaming breath, and from his tongue
he shot forth a storm of sparks.
[11] All these were mingled together, the stream of fire and
the flaming breath and the great storm, and fell on the onrushing multitude
which was prepared to fight, and burned them all up, so that suddenly nothing
was seen of the innumerable multitude but only the dust of ashes and the
smell of smoke. When I saw it, I was amazed.
[12] After this I saw the same man come down from the mountain
and call to him another multitude which was peaceable.
[13] Then many people came to him, some of whom were joyful
and some sorrowful; some of them were bound, and some were bringing others
as offerings. Then in great fear I awoke; and I besought the Most High,
and said,
[14] "From the beginning thou hast shown thy servant these wonders,
and hast deemed me worthy to have my prayer heard by thee;
[15] now show me also the interpretation of this dream.
[16] For as I consider it in my mind, alas for those who will
be left in those days! And still more, alas for those who are not left!
[17] For those who are not left will be sad,
[18] because they understand what is reserved for the last days,
but cannot attain it.
[19] But alas for those also who are left, and for that very
reason! For they shall see great dangers and much distress, as these dreams
show.
[20] Yet it is better to come into these things, though incurring
peril, than to pass from the world like a cloud, and not to see what shall
happen in the last days." He answered me and said,
[21] "I will tell you the interpretation of the vision, and
I will also explain to you the things which you have mentioned.
[22] As for what you said about those who are left, this is
the interpretation:
[23] He who brings the peril at that time will himself protect
those who fall into peril, who have works and have faith in the Almighty.
[24] Understand therefore that those who are left are more blessed
than those who have died.
[25] This is the interpretation of the vision: As for your seeing
a man come up from the heart of the sea,
[26] this is he whom the Most High has been keeping for many
ages, who will himself deliver his creation; and he will direct those who
are left.
[27] And as for your seeing wind and fire and a storm coming
out of his mouth,
[28] and as for his not holding a spear or weapon of war, yet
destroying the onrushing multitude which came to conquer him, this is the
interpretation:
[29] Behold, the days are coming when the Most High will deliver
those who are on the earth.
[30] And bewilderment of mind shall come over those who dwell
on the earth.
[31] And they shall plan to make war against one another, city
against city, place against place, people against people, and kingdom against
kingdom.
[32] And when these things come to pass and the signs occur
which I showed you before, then my Son will be revealed, whom you saw as
a man coming up from the sea.
[33] And when all the nations hear his voice, every man shall
leave his own land and the warfare that they have against one another;
[34] and an innumerable multitude shall be gathered together,
as you saw, desiring to come and conquer him.
[35] But he shall stand on the top of Mount Zion.
[36] And Zion will come and be made manifest to all people,
prepared and built, as you saw the mountain carved out without hands.
[37] And he, my Son, will reprove the assembled nations for
their ungodliness (this was symbolized by the storm),
[38] and will reproach them to their face with their evil thoughts
and the torments with which they are to be tortured (which were symbolized
by the flames), and will destroy them without effort by the law (which
was symbolized by the fire).
[39] And as for your seeing him gather to himself another multitude
that was peaceable,
[40] these are the ten tribes which were led away from their
own land into captivity in the days of King Hoshea, whom Shalmaneser the
king of the Assyrians led captive; he took them across the river, and they
were taken into another land.
[41] But they formed this plan for themselves, that they would
leave the multitude of the nations and go to a more distant region, where
mankind had never lived,
[42] that there at least they might keep their statutes which
they had not kept in their own land.
[43] And they went in by the narrow passages of the Euphrates
river.
[44] For at that time the Most High performed signs for them,
and stopped the channels of the river until they had passed over.
[45] Through that region there was a long way to go, a journey
of a year and a half; and that country is called Arzareth.
[46] "Then they dwelt there until the last times; and now, when
they are about to come again,
[47] the Most High will stop the channels of the river again,
so that they may be able to pass over. Therefore you saw the multitude
gathered together in peace.
[48] But those who are left of your people, who are found within
my holy borders, shall be saved.
[49] Therefore when he destroys the multitude of the nations
that are gathered together, he will defend the people who remain.
[50] And then he will show them very many wonders."
[51] I said, "O sovereign Lord, explain this to me: Why did
I see the man coming up from the heart of the sea?"
[52] He said to me, "Just as no one can explore or know what
is in the depths of the sea, so no one on earth can see my Son or those
who are with him, except in the time of his day.
[53] This is the interpretation of the dream which you saw.
And you alone have been enlightened about this,
[54] because you have forsaken your own ways and have applied
yourself to mine, and have searched out my law;
[55] for you have devoted your life to wisdom, and called understanding
your mother.
[56] Therefore I have shown you this, for there is a reward
laid up with the Most High. And after three more days I will tell you other
things, and explain weighty and wondrous matters to you."
[57] Then I arose and walked in the field, giving great glory
and praise to the Most High because of his wonders, which he did from time
to time,
[58] and because he governs the times and whatever things come
to pass in their seasons. And I stayed there three days.

14

[1] On the third day, while I was sitting under an oak, behold,
a voice came out of a bush opposite me and said, "Ezra, Ezra."
[2] And I said, "Here I am, Lord," and I rose to my feet.
[3] Then he said to me, "I revealed myself in a bush and spoke
to Moses, when my people were in bondage in Egypt;
[4] and I sent him and led my people out of Egypt; and I led
him up on Mount Sinai, where I kept him with me many days;
[5] and I told him many wondrous things, and showed him the
secrets of the times and declared to him the end of the times. Then I commanded
him, saying,
[6] `These words you shall publish openly, and these you shall
keep secret.'
[7] And now I say to you;
[8] Lay up in your heart the signs that I have shown you, the
dreams that you have seen, and the interpretations that you have heard;
[9] for you shall be taken up from among men, and henceforth
you shall live with my Son and with those who are like you, until the times
are ended.
[10] For the age has lost its youth, and the times begin to
grow old.
[11] For the age is divided into twelve parts, and nine of its
parts have already passed,
[12] as well as half of the tenth part; so two of its parts
remain, besides half of the tenth part.
[13] Now therefore, set your house in order, and reprove your
people; comfort the lowly among them, and instruct those that are wise.
And now renounce the life that is corruptible,
[14] and put away from you mortal thoughts; cast away from you
the burdens of man, and divest yourself now of your weak nature,
[15] and lay to one side the thoughts that are most grievous
to you, and hasten to escape from these times.
[16] For evils worse than those which you have now seen happen
shall be done hereafter.
[17] For the weaker the world becomes through old age, the more
shall evils be multiplied among its inhabitants.
[18] For truth shall go farther away, and falsehood shall come
near. For the eagle which you saw in the vision is already hastening to
come."
[19] Then I answered and said, "Let me speak in thy presence,
Lord.
[20] For behold, I will go, as thou hast commanded me, and I
will reprove the people who are now living; but who will warn those who
will be born hereafter? For the world lies in darkness, and its inhabitants
are without light.
[21] For thy law has been burned, and so no one knows the things
which have been done or will be done by thee.
[22] If then I have found favor before thee, send the Holy Spirit
into me, and I will write everything that has happened in the world from
the beginning, the things which were written in thy law, that men may be
able to find the path, and that those who wish to live in the last days
may live."
[23] He answered me and said, "Go and gather the people, and
tell them not to seek you for forty days.
[24] But prepare for yourself many writing tablets, and take
with you Sarea, Dabria, Selemia, Ethanus, and Asiel -- these five, because
they are trained to write rapidly;
[25] and you shall come here, and I will light in your heart
the lamp of understanding, which shall not be put out until what you are
about to write is finished.
[26] And when you have finished, some things you shall make
public, and some you shall deliver in secret to the wise; tomorrow at this
hour you shall begin to write."
[27] Then I went as he commanded me, and I gathered all the
people together, and said,
[28] "Hear these words, O Israel
[29] At first our fathers dwelt as aliens in Egypt, and they
were delivered from there,
[30] and received the law of life, which they did not keep,
which you also have transgressed after them.
[31] Then land was given to you for a possession in the land
of Zion; but you and your fathers committed iniquity and did not keep the
ways which the Most High commanded you.
[32] And because he is a righteous judge, in due time he took
from you what he had given.
[33] And now you are here, and your brethren are farther in
the interior.
[34] If you, then, will rule over your minds and discipline
your hearts, you shall be kept alive, and after death you shall obtain
mercy.
[35] For after death the judgment will come, when we shall live
again; and then the names of the righteous will become manifest, and the
deeds of the ungodly will be disclosed.
[36] But let no one come to me now, and let no one seek me for
forty days."
[37] So I took the five men, as he commanded me, and we proceeded
to the field, and remained there.
[38] And on the next day, behold, a voice called me, saying,
"Ezra, open your mouth and drink what I give you to drink."
[39] Then I opened my mouth, and behold, a full cup was offered
to me; it was full of something like water, but its color was like fire.
[40] And I took it and drank; and when I had drunk it, my heart
poured forth understanding, and wisdom increased in my breast, for my spirit
retained its memory;
[41] and my mouth was opened, and was no longer closed.
[42] And the Most High gave understanding to the five men, and
by turns they wrote what was dictated, in characters which they did not
know. They sat forty days, and wrote during the daytime, and ate their
bread at night.
[43] As for me, I spoke in the daytime and was not silent at
night.
[44] So during the forty days ninety-four books were written.
[45] And when the forty days were ended, the Most High spoke
to me, saying, "Make public the twenty-four books that you wrote first
and let the worthy and the unworthy read them;
[46] but keep the seventy that were written last, in order to
give them to the wise among your people.
[47] For in them is the spring of understanding, the fountain
of wisdom, and the river of knowledge."
[48] And I did so.

15

[1] The Lord says, "Behold, speak in the ears of my people the words
of the prophecy which I will put in your mouth,
[2] and cause them to be written on paper; for they are trustworthy
and true.
[3] Do not fear the plots against you, and do not be troubled
by the unbelief of those who oppose you.
[4] For every unbeliever shall die in his unbelief."
[5] "Behold," says the Lord, "I bring evils upon the world,
the sword and famine and death and destruction.
[6] For iniquity has spread throughout every land, and their
harmful deeds have reached their limit.
[7] Therefore," says the Lord,
[8] "I will be silent no longer concerning their ungodly deeds
which they impiously commit, neither will I tolerate their wicked practices.
Behold, innocent and righteous blood cries out to me, and the souls of
the righteous cry out continually.
[9] I will surely avenge them," says the Lord, "and will receive
to myself all the innocent blood from among them.
[10] Behold, my people is led like a flock to the slaughter;
I will not allow them to live any longer in the land of Egypt,
[11] but I will bring them out with a mighty hand and with an
uplifted arm, and will smite Egypt with plagues, as before, and will destroy
all its land."
[12] Let Egypt mourn, and its foundations, for the plague of
chastisement and punishment that the Lord will bring upon it.
[13] Let the farmers that till the ground mourn, because their
seed shall fail and their trees shall be ruined by blight and hail and
by a terrible tempest.
[14] Alas for the world and for those who live in it!
[15] For the sword and misery draw near them, and nation shall
rise up to fight against nation, with swords in their hands.
[16] For there shall be unrest among men; growing strong against
one another, they shall in their might have no respect for their king or
the chief of their leaders.
[17] For a man will desire to go into a city, and shall not
be able.
[18] For because of their pride the cities shall be in confusion,
the houses shall be destroyed, and people shall be afraid.
[19] A man shall have no pity upon his neighbors, but shall
make an assault upon their houses with the sword, and plunder their goods,
because of hunger for bread and because of great tribulation.
[20] "Behold," says God, "I call together all the kings of the
earth to fear me, from the rising sun and from the south, from the east
and from Lebanon; to turn and repay what they have given them.
[21] Just as they have done to my elect until this day, so I
will do, and will repay into their bosom." Thus says the Lord God:
[22] "My right hand will not spare the sinners, and my sword
will not cease from those who shed innocent blood on earth."
[23] And a fire will go forth from his wrath, and will consume
the foundations of the earth, and the sinners, like straw that is kindled.
[24] "Woe to those who sin and do not observe my commandments,"
says the Lord;
[25] "I will not spare them. Depart, you faithless children!
Do not pollute my sanctuary."
[26] For the Lord knows all who transgress against him; therefore
he will hand them over to death and slaughter.
[27] For now calamities have come upon the whole earth, and
you shall remain in them; for God will not deliver you, because you have
sinned against him.
[28] Behold, a terrifying sight, appearing from the east!
[29] The nations of the dragons of Arabia shall come out with
many chariots, and from the day that they set out, their hissing shall
spread over the earth, so that all who hear them fear and tremble.
[30] Also the Carmonians, raging in wrath, shall go forth like
wild boars of the forest, and with great power they shall come, and engage
them in battle, and shall devastate a portion of the land of the Assyrians
with their teeth.
[31] And then the dragons, remembering their origin, shall become
still stronger; and if they combine in great power and turn to pursue them,
[32] then these shall be disorganized and silenced by their
power, and shall turn and flee.
[33] And from the land of the Assyrians an enemy in ambush shall
beset them and destroy one of them, and fear and trembling shall come upon
their army, and indecision upon their kings.
[34] Behold, clouds from the east, and from the north to the
south; and their appearance is very threatening, full of wrath and storm.
[35] They shall dash against one another and shall pour out
a heavy tempest upon the earth, and their own tempest; and there shall
be blood from the sword as high as a horse's belly
[36] and a man's thigh and a camel's hock.
[37] And there shall be fear and great trembling upon the earth;
and those who see that wrath shall be horror-stricken, and they shall be
seized with trembling.
[38] And, after that, heavy storm clouds shall be stirred up
from the south, and from the north, and another part from the west.
[39] And the winds from the east shall prevail over the cloud
that was raised in wrath, and shall dispel it; and the tempest that was
to cause destruction by the east wind shall be driven violently toward
the south and west.
[40] And great and mighty clouds, full of wrath and tempest,
shall rise, to destroy all the earth and its inhabitants, and shall pour
out upon every high and lofty place a terrible tempest,
[41] fire and hail and flying swords and floods of water, that
all the fields and all the streams may be filled with the abundance of
those waters.
[42] And they shall destroy cities and walls, mountains and
hills, trees of the forests, and grass of the meadows, and their grain.
[43] And they shall go on steadily to Babylon, and shall destroy
her.
[44] They shall come to her and surround her; they shall pour
out the tempest and all its wrath upon her; then the dust and smoke shall
go up to heaven, and all who are about her shall wail over her.
[45] And those who survive shall serve those who have destroyed
her.
[46] And you, Asia, who share in the glamour of Babylon and
the glory of her person --
[47] woe to you, miserable wretch! For you have made yourself
like her; you have decked out your daughters in harlotry to please and
glory in your lovers, who have always lusted after you.
[48] You have imitated that hateful harlot in all her deeds
and devices; therefore God says,
[49] "I will send evils upon you, widowhood, poverty, famine,
sword, and pestilence, to lay waste your houses and bring you to destruction
and death.
[50] And the glory of your power shall wither like a flower,
when the heat rises that is sent upon you.
[51] You shall be weakened like a wretched woman who is beaten
and wounded, so that you cannot receive your mighty lovers.
[52] Would I have dealt with you so violently," says the Lord,
[53] "If you had not always killed my chosen people, exulting
and clapping your hands and talking about their death when you were drunk?
[54] Trick out the beauty of your face!
[55] The reward of a harlot is in your bosom, therefore you
shall receive your recompense.
[56] As you will do to my chosen people," says the Lord, "so
God will do to you, and will hand you over to adversities.
[57] Your children shall die of hunger, and you shall fall by
the sword, and your cities shall be wiped out, and all your people who
are in the open country shall fall by the sword.
[58] And those who are in the mountains and highlands shall
perish of hunger, and they shall eat their own flesh in hunger for bread
and drink their own blood in thirst for water.
[59] Unhappy above all others, you shall come and suffer fresh
afflictions.
[60] And as they pass they shall wreck the hateful city, and
shall destroy a part of your land and abolish a portion of your glory,
as they return from devastated Babylon.
[61] And you shall be broken down by them like stubble, and
they shall be like fire to you.
[62] And they shall devour you and your cities, your land and
your mountains; they shall burn with fire all your forests and your fruitful
trees.
[63] They shall carry your children away captive, and shall
plunder your wealth, and abolish the glory of your countenance."

16

[1] Woe to you, Babylon and Asia! Woe to you, Egypt and Syria!
[2] Gird yourselves with sackcloth and haircloth, and wail for
your children, and lament for them; for your destruction is at hand.
[3] The sword has been sent upon you, and who is there to turn
it back?
[4] A fire has been sent upon you, and who is there to quench
it?
[5] Calamities have been sent upon you, and who is there to
drive them away?
[6] Can one drive off a hungry lion in the forest, or quench
a fire in the stubble, when once it has begun to burn?
[7] Can one turn back an arrow shot by a strong archer?
[8] The Lord God sends calamities, and who will drive them away?
[9] Fire will go forth from his wrath, and who is there to quench
it?
[10] He will flash lightning, and who will not be afraid? He
will thunder, and who will not be terrified?
[11] The Lord will threaten, and who will not be utterly shattered
at his presence?
[12] The earth and its foundations quake, the sea is churned
up from the depths, and its waves and the fish also shall be troubled at
the presence of the Lord and before the glory of his power.
[13] For his right hand that bends the bow is strong, and his
arrows that he shoots are sharp and will not miss when they begin to be
shot to the ends of the world.
[14] Behold, calamities are sent forth and shall not return
until they come over the earth.
[15] The fire is kindled, and shall not be put out until it
consumes the foundations of the earth.
[16] Just as an arrow shot by a mighty archer does not return,
so the calamities that are sent upon the earth shall not return.
[17] Alas for me! Alas for me! Who will deliver me in those
days?
[18] The beginning of sorrows, when there shall be much lamentation;
the beginning of famine, when many shall perish; the beginning of wars,
when the powers shall be terrified; the beginning of calamities, when all
shall tremble. What shall they do in these circumstances, when the calamities
come?
[19] Behold, famine and plague, tribulation and anguish are
sent as scourges for the correction of men.
[20] Yet for all this they will not turn from their iniquities,
nor be always mindful of the scourges.
[21] Behold, provision will be so cheap upon earth that men
will imagine that peace is assured for them, and then the calamities shall
spring up on the earth -- the sword, famine, and great confusion.
[22] For many of those who live on the earth shall perish by
famine; and those who survive the famine shall die by the sword.
[23] And the dead shall be cast out like dung, and there shall
be no one to console them; for the earth shall be left desolate, and its
cities shall be demolished.
[24] No one shall be left to cultivate the earth or to sow it.
[25] The trees shall bear fruit, and who will gather it?
[26] The grapes shall ripen, and who will tread them? For in
all places there shall be great solitude;
[27] one man will long to see another, or even to hear his voice.
[28] For out of a city, ten shall be left; and out of the field,
two who have hidden themselves in thick groves and clefts in the rocks.
[29] As in an olive orchard three or four olives may be left
on every tree,
[30] or as when a vineyard is gathered some clusters may be
left by those who search carefully through the vineyard,
[31] so in those days three or four shall be left by those who
search their houses with the sword.
[32] And the earth shall be left desolate, and its fields shall
be for briers, and its roads and all its paths shall bring forth thorns,
because no sheep will go along them.
[33] Virgins shall mourn because they have no bridegrooms; women
shall mourn because they have no husbands; their daughters shall mourn,
because they have no helpers.
[34] Their bridegrooms shall be killed in war, and their husbands
shall perish of famine.
[35] Listen now to these things, and understand them, O servants
of the Lord.
[36] Behold the word of the Lord, receive it; do not disbelieve
what the Lord says.
[37] Behold, the calamities draw near, and are not delayed.
[38] Just as a woman with child, in the ninth month, when the
time of her delivery draws near, has great pains about her womb for two
or three hours beforehand, and when the child comes forth from the womb,
there will not be a moment's delay,
[39] so the calamities will not delay in coming forth upon the
earth, and the world will groan, and pains will seize it on every side.
[40] "Hear my words, O my people; prepare for battle, and in
the midst of the calamities be like strangers on the earth.
[41] Let him that sells be like one who will flee; let him that
buys be like one who will lose;
[42] let him that does business be like one who will not make
a profit; and let him that builds a house be like one who will not live
in it;
[43] let him that sows be like one who will not reap; so also
him that prunes the vines, like one who will not gather the grapes;
[44] them that marry, like those who will have no children;
and them that do not marry, like those who are widowed.
[45] Because those who labor, labor in vain;
[46] for strangers shall gather their fruits, and plunder their
goods, and overthrow their houses, and take their children captive; for
in captivity and famine they will beget their children.
[47] Those who conduct business, do it only to be plundered;
the more they adorn their cities, their houses and possessions, and their
persons,
[48] the more angry I will be with them for their sins," says
the Lord.
[49] Just as a respectable and virtuous woman abhors a harlot,
[50] so righteousness shall abhor iniquity, when she decks herself
out, and shall accuse her to her face, when he comes who will defend him
who searches out every sin on earth.
[51] Therefore do not be like her or her works.
[52] For behold, just a little while, and iniquity will be removed
from the earth, and righteousness will reign over us.
[53] Let no sinner say that he has not sinned; for God will
burn coals of fire on the head of him who says, "I have not sinned before
God and his glory."
[54] Behold, the Lord knows all the works of men, their imaginations
and their thoughts and their hearts.
[55] He said, "Let the earth be made," and it was made; "Let
the heaven be made," and it was made.
[56] At his word the stars were fixed, and he knows the number
of the stars.
[57] It is he who searches the deep and its treasures, who has
measured the sea and its contents;
[58] who has enclosed the sea in the midst of the waters, and
by his word has suspended the earth over the water;
[59] who has spread out the heaven like an arch, and founded
it upon the waters;
[60] who has put springs of water in the desert, and pools on
the tops of the mountains, to send rivers from the heights to water the
earth;
[61] who formed man, and put a heart in the midst of his body,
and gave him breath and life and understanding
[62] and the spirit of Almighty God; who made all things and
searches out hidden things in hidden places.
[63] Surely he knows your imaginations and what you think in
your hearts! Woe to those who sin and want to hide their sins!
[64] Because the Lord will strictly examine all their works,
and will make a public spectacle of all of you.
[65] And when your sins come out before men, you shall be put
to shame; and your own iniquities shall stand as your accusers in that
day.
[66] What will you do? Or how will you hide your sins before
God and his angels?
[67] Behold, God is the judge, fear him! Cease from your sins,
and forget your iniquities, never to commit them again; so God will lead
you forth and deliver you from all tribulation.
[68] For behold, the burning wrath of a great multitude is kindled
over you, and they shall carry off some of you and shall feed you what
was sacrificed to idols.
[69] And those who consent to eat shall be held in derision
and contempt, and be trodden under foot.
[70] For in many places and in neighboring cities there shall
be a great insurrection against those who fear the Lord.
[71] They shall be like mad men, sparing no one, but plundering
and destroying those who continue to fear the Lord.
[72] For they shall destroy and plunder their goods, and drive
them out of their houses.
[73] Then the tested quality of my elect shall be manifest,
as gold that is tested by fire.
[74] "Hear, my elect," says the Lord. "Behold, the days of tribulation
are at hand, and I will deliver you from them.
[75] Do not fear or doubt, for God is your guide.
[76] You who keep my commandments and precepts," says the Lord
God, "do not let your sins pull you down, or your iniquities prevail over
you."
[77] Woe to those who are choked by their sins and overwhelmed
by their iniquities, as a field is choked with underbrush and its path
overwhelmed with thorns, so that no one can pass through!
[78] It is shut off and given up to be consumed by fire.